Zydeco. Zydeco is a musical genre evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers[1] which blends Cajun music, blues and rhythm and blues.
Origin of term[edit] Though disputed, it is commonly suggested that "zydeco" derives from the French phrase Les haricots ne sont pas salés, which, when spoken in the Louisiana Creole French, sounds as "leh-zy-dee-co nay sohn pah salay". This literally translates as "the snap beans aren't salty" but idiomatically as "I have no spicy news for you. " Alternatively the term has been given the meaning "I'm so poor, I can't afford any salt meat for the beans. " The earliest recorded use of the term may have been the country and western musical group called Zydeco Skillet Lickers who recorded the song It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo in 1929.[2] Initially, several different spellings of the word existed, including "zarico" and "zodico".
Another possible root word for zydeco is as a West African term for Musicking. Musical style[edit] Early history[edit] Queen Ida. Ida Lewis "Queen Ida" Guillory (born January 15, 1929) is a Louisiana Creole accordionist.
She was the first female accordion player to lead a zydeco band. [citation needed] Queen Ida's music is an eclectic mix of R&B, Caribbean, and Cajun, though the presence of her accordion always keeps it traditional. [citation needed] Biography[edit] Biography. Queen Ida was the first female accordion player to lead a zydeco band.
Favoring a 31-button accordion, she is noted for her melodic playing, and for focusing on the treble side of her instrument, which makes her style similar to Mexican playing styles. Though like many other zydeco artists of the '80s, her music was well grounded in Creole traditions, she also integrates Caribbean, Cajun (with the addition of a fiddle to her Bon Temps Zydeco Band), blues, and other genres. She came to music rather late in life. Born Ida Lewis to a musically talented family in Lake Charles, LA, she learned to play accordion from her mother after she spent a few years learning the piano. Her family moved to Beaumont, TX, when she was ten, and eight years later moved to San Francisco. Queen Ida and The Bon Temps Zydeco Band - Rosa Majeur. Clifton Chenier. The undisputed "King of Zydeco," Clifton Chenier was the first Creole to be presented a Grammy award on national television.
Blending the French and Cajun 2-steps and waltzes of southwest Louisiana with New Orleans R&B, Texas blues, and big-band jazz, Chenier created the modern, dance-inspiring, sounds of zydeco. A flamboyant personality, remembered for his gold tooth and the cape and crown that he wore during concerts, Chenier set the standard for all the zydeco players who have followed in his footsteps.
In an interview from Ann Savoy's book, Cajun Music: Reflection of a People, Chenier explained, "Zydeco is rock and French mixed together, you know, like French music and rock with a beat to it. It's the same thing as rock and roll but it's different because I'm singing in French. " Moving to New Iberia in the mid-'40s, Chenier worked in the sugar fields cutting sugar cane.
Tighten Up Zydeco - Clifton Chenier & The Louisiana Ramblers. Clifton Chenier. Buckwheat Zydeco. Contemporary zydeco's most popular performer, accordionist Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural was the natural successor to the throne vacated by the death of his mentor Clifton Chenier; infusing his propulsive party music with strains of rock and R&B, his urbanized sound -- complete with touches of synthesizer and trumpet -- married traditional and contemporary zydeco with uncommon flair, in the process reaching a wider mainstream audience than any artist before him.
Dural was born in Lafayette, LA, on November 14, 1947; with his braided hair, he soon acquired the nickname "Buckwheat" (an homage to the Our Gang character), and by the age of four was already touted as a piano prodigy. Although often exposed to traditional zydeco as a child, he preferred R&B, and by the mid-'50s was playing professionally with Lynn August; Dural's acclaim as a keyboardist quickly spread, and he also backed notables including Joe Tex and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.
Buckwheat Zydeco - Hey Ma Petit Fille. Buckwheat Zydeco.